Posts Tagged ‘Luftwaffe’

We at Achtung T Shirt specialize in German WW2 panzer tank t shirts, but we also love diversity so we also have Luftwaffe t shirts. Of course Luftwaffe in German means “air force” and so you know about the Stuka tee we have blogged about. What about our other Luftwaffe tee’s? Well let’s talk about them. We have the twin Me 262’s t shirt, the Messerschmitt Bf-109 and the Stuka. I think we will add more over time. I do have a mock up of the Horten 229 flying wing that I was thinking of putting in our ebay store Achtung T Shirt.

German ww2 Stuka Ju87 Dive Bomber tee

More info: The Messerschmitt Me 262Schwalbe (German for “swallow”) was the world’s first operational turbojet fighter aircraft. It was produced in World War II and saw action starting in 1944 as a multi-role fighter/bomber/reconnaissance/interceptor warplane for the Luftwaffe. German pilots nicknamed this revolutionary aircraft the Sturmvogel (Stormbird). The Me 262 had a negligible impact on the course of the war due to its late introduction, with 509 claimed Allied kills against the loss of more than 100 Me 262s.

The Me 262 was already being developed as Projekt P.1065 before the start of World War II. Plans were first started in Spring 1939, and the original design was very similar to the plane that eventually entered service. The progression of the original design into service was delayed greatly by technical issues involving the new jet engines. Funding for the jet program was also initially lacking, as many high-ranking officials thought the war could easily be won with conventional aircraft. Hermann Göring, commnader of the Luftwaffe, was one of these doubters who cut back the engine development program to just 35 engineers in February 1940, Willy Messerschmitt, who desired to maintain mass production of the Bf 109 and the projected Me 209; and Major General Adolf Galland, who supported Messerschmitt through the early development years, until flying the Me 262 himself on 22 April 1943. By that time problems with engine development had slowed production of the aircraft considerably.

Focke Wulf Fw 190 Fighter Aircraft

In 1943, Adolf Hitler envisioned the Me 262 not as a defensive interceptor, but as an offensive ground attack/bomber, almost as a very high speed, light payload Schnellbomber (Fast Bomber), to penetrate Allied air superiority during the expected invasion of France. His edict resulted in the development of the Sturmvogel (Stormbird) variant. It is debatable to what extent Hitler’s interference extended the delay in bringing the Swallow into operation.

The aircraft was originally designed with a tail wheel undercarriage and the first four prototypes (Me 262 V1-V4) were built with this configuration, but it was discovered on an early test run that the engines and wings “blanked” the stabilizers, giving nearly no control on the ground, as well as serious runway surface damage from the hot jet exhaust. Changing to a tricycle undercarriage arrangement, initially a fixed undercarriage on the “V5” fifth prototype, then fully retractable on the sixth (V6, with code VI+AA) and succeeding aircraft, corrected this problem.

Messerschmitt Me-262 Jet Luftwaffe ww2 fighter airplane

Although it is often stated the Me 262 is a “swept wing” design, the production Me 262 had a leading edge sweep of only 18.5°. This was done primarily to properly position the center of lift relative to the center of mass and not for the aerodynamic benefit of increasing the critical Mach number of the wing. The sweep was too slight to achieve any significant advantage. This happened after the initial design of the aircraft, when the engines proved to be heavier than originally expected. On 1 March 1940, instead of moving the wing forward on its mount, the outer wing was positioned slightly backwards to the same end. The middle section of the wing remained unswept. Based on data from the AVA Göttingen and windtunnel results, the middle section was later swept.

The first test flights began on 18 April 1941, with the Me 262 V1 example, bearing its Stammkennzeichen radio code letters of PC+UA, but since its intended BMW 003 turbojets were not ready for fitting, a conventional Junkers Jumo 210 engine was mounted in the V1 prototype’s nose, driving a propeller, to test the Me 262 V1 airframe. When the BMW 003 engines were finally installed, the Jumo was retained for safety, which proved wise as both 003s failed during the first flight and the pilot had to land using the nose mounted engine alone.

The V3 third prototype airframe, with the code PC+UC, became a true “jet” when it flew on 18 July 1942 in Leipheim near Günzburg, Germany, piloted by Fritz Wendel. This was almost nine months ahead of the British Gloster Meteor’s first flight on 5 March 1943. The tail-heavy attitude of the Me 262 caused its jet exhaust to deflect off the runway, negating the effects of the elevators, and the first attempt was cut short. On the second attempt, Wendel solved the problem by tapping the aircraft’s brakes at takeoff speed, lowering the nose and lifting the tail.

The 003 engines, which were proving unreliable, were replaced by the newly available Junkers Jumo 004. Test flights continued over the next year, but the engines continued to be unreliable. Airframe modifications were complete by 1942, but hampered by the lack of engines, serial production did not begin until 1944. This delay in engine availability was in part due to the shortage of strategic materials, especially metals and alloys able to handle the extreme temperatures produced by the jet engine. Even when the engines were completed, they had an expected operational lifetime of approximately 50 hours; in fact, most 004s lasted just 12 hours. A pilot familiar with the Me 262 and its engines could expect approximately 20 to 25 hours of life from the 004s. Changing a 004 engine was intended to require three hours, but typically took eight to nine due to poorly made parts and inadequate training of ground crews.

Turbojet engines have less thrust at low speed than propellers and as a result, low-speed acceleration is relatively poor. It was more noticeable for the Me 262 as early jet engines (before the invention of afterburners) responded slowly to throttle changes. The introduction of a primitive autothrottle late in the war only helped slightly. Conversely, the higher power of jet engines at higher speeds meant the Me 262 enjoyed a much higher climb speed. Used tactically, this gave the jet fighter an even greater speed advantage in climb rate than level flight at top speed.

With one engine out, the Me 262 still flew well, with speeds of 450 to 500 km/h (280 to 310 mph), but pilots were warned never to fly slower than 300 km/h (186 mph) on one engine, as the asymmetrical thrust would cause serious problems.